Lincoln's Best Strategist

The article that I read dealt with the planning done by General Winfield Scott.  This was known as the "Anaconda Plan" and more or less dealt with the planning, and later on, rebuffing of the plan.  Winfield Scott believed that the best way to beat the south would be to fight in the West, while blockading the ports to the East.  He also wanted to send gunboats down the Mississippi river, followed by boats with some 60,000 troops.  He believed that this was the best way to beat the South.  His plan was rebuffed, however, because many generals and military leaders in the North believed that this was simply a waste of time.  Another interesting concept that the article mentions is that some leaders in Washington considered the CSA to be in rebellion, not an actual nation.  To institute a blockade like that would be almost acknowledging their independence as a free country.
Scott believed that his plan would work because the South had no means to stop a blockade of that nature, and that any attempt to stop the fleet sailing down the Mississippi would be futile.  At the end of that long trip down the Mississippi would be the capture and occupation of New Orleans.  New Orleans was a big trading port the the Confederate States, and if it were to be captured, it would be be a blow to their economy.  I personally believe that his plan would have worked because the South did not the adequate military force in the West to deal with a full scale armed conflict, and they certainly did not have the navy capabilities to deal with either of the fleets that would be bearing down on them.  Overall, this article was a great read, and it helped me understand a lot more about the Anaconda Plan, and more about Scott and his rationale behind his ideas.

"Lincoln's Best Strategist." The Civil War Times52.2 (2013): 12. Academic Search Premier.